be open to meeting zimmerman one day, she said absolutely not and after last night's interview, i don't blame her. you can read more about the interview on washingtonpost.com. chris matthew is here to pick things up right now. enough's enough. let's play "hardball." good evening. leading off tonight, dirt ball. i suppose if you want to get down in the mud, if you want to show how much dirt you'll get your hands into, you start calling people spies if you're desperate and sleazy enough to go after a quiet deputy of hillary clinton. someone who can't defend herself. better yet, you go with a course of sleaze like john sununu with

the republican candidate saying himself how foreign the president is. then to put the cherry on top, you have michele bachmann with some help from glenn beck charge that the whole u.s. government including according to beck, john mccain himself, are all part of some crowd taking orders from the muslim brotherhood. tonight, we hear the first whistles being blown. guys who have served this country in uniform are standing up to this crazy, un-american talk. god save mccain and say i say and all those left right and center who say enough's enough. i'm joined by msnbc political analyst and editor at large joan wallach. john feehery. he also joins us tonight. joan, john, what do we got? how do you explain this cacophony that's going on? all this talk about people learning how to be an american? the the charges, sununu's up to

this. you've got the candidate himself talking about the president being foreign in his thinking. what's that angle that we're getting? because bachmann's the ultimate case of this. >> let me first disassociate, mix these up. michele bachmann's thing, absolutely outrageous. i know mccain was absolutely right. you have quibble, have some serious disagreements with obama's foreign policy, but you know, throwing her under the bus i think is ridiculous and the worst thing is it's a distraction from what the campaign should be all about, which should be about the economy. now, you know, if you're talking about some of the rhetoric coming from mitt romney and others, listen. all is fair in love and war when it comes to politics. they're saying the same thing about mitt romney. they're calling him un-american. a felon. >> wait a minute. >> some of these things -- >> has anybody questioned his

citizenship? >> well, they've questioned where he's putting his money. >> talk about -- to me, there's no -- >> yeah. >> so, there's no difference between questioning a guy's tax returns and whether he's an american or not. there's a difference. >> difference between the rhetoric of michele bachmann, which is horrible and john sununu said he apologized and should. >> what did john sununu say? saying it's so much different. he said he ought to learn how to be an american. where does that talk come from? >> he said he shouldn't have said that. >> why did he say it? >> i don't know. >> why does the president, the candidate of the republican party say the president's foreign? >> well, i think he's talking about the fact that the president's trying to import european style democracy or socialism. >> oh. >> and that's the policy disagreement. >> saying you're -- >> all together appropriate. >> i think it all fits together.

here's ed roll ins in an op-ed yesterday. he toured the congresswoman calling her charges -- having worked for congresswoman bachmann's campaign for president, i'm fully aware that she sometimes has difficulty with her facts and reaches joe mccarthy level. as a seat on the house intelligence committee, you know better. shame on you, michele. you should stand on the foor of the house and apologize for your wild and unstanuated charge and other republicans also called for her charges to be withdrawn, they called them outrageous. today, the speaker of the house was asked about it. here's what speaker said.

>> i don't know, but from everything that i do know of her, she has a sterling character. and i think accusations like this are pretty dangerous. >> you might get the idea that this is okay. i disagree with john. i think it's inkind. >> let me start by saying michele bachmann is joe mccarthy in lipstick and he's a dangerous american and i want to start by welcoming john to a zone of decency where senator john mccain took us and ed rollins is taking us and the rhetoric in this country is to dangerous that it's important to acknowledge that they have now staked out a lunatic grin nlg. that's a good thing and we should applaud that today and

you know that a however is coming. however. >> here's something, by the way, feehery, i like feehery a lot. i know what he has to do sometimes. in this case, he's saying the right thing. michele bachmann is off the rails. by the way, here she is fighting someone who agreed with her. she was on today with glenn beck. beck defended the congresswoman and attacked john mccain, who he said is marching to the orders of the muslim brotherhood. that's john mccain being accused of that this time. you've got to keep up with your crowd. they're a little frisky out there. let's listen to glenn and michele. >> john mccain and all of the elephant media are falling right in line with the muslim brotherhood. >> michele bachmann continued her accusations against clinton's aide. listen to her. >> she is the chief aide to the secretary of state and we quoted

from a document and this has been well reported across arab media, that her late father who is now deceased was a part of the muslim brotherhood. her brother was a part and her mother was part of what's called the muslim sisterhood. >> there is absolutely no evidence that her relatives were ever members of the muslim brotherho brotherhood. she also makes this claim about the infiltration. >> its influence today of the muslim brotherhood at the highest lels from the white house to the pentagon and fbi even through our military is breathless and people have to know about it. >> i could call this a parallel universe, but it's part of the far right. how do you separate this kind of stuff from the mainstream

republican conservatives? >> members congress look at michele bachmann -- >> four other guys in this besides her. >> just talking about michele bachmann. there are some good guys in part of that letter. >> really? >> you have to be really, really careful on these types of attacks. the language she's using is to paralleled to what joe mccarthy said. you've got to know your history and you cannot make these accusations without some real hard proof and to demonize someone like that is a huge mistake. >> i think i brought this up, you can't turn on an american television show, a sitcom if you will, without at least one of the characters being from south asia, the middle east. but now toingle out people not in a happy way, welcoming to our culture, but to single them out as dangerous the way this

character has done and i think ed rollins has a point. this is something that has to be addressed on the floor of the house. any way, the romney campaign, you have any thoughts on that, joan, since i brought it up with you? >> yes, i do think they need to denounce it on the floor of the house. i don't know who he's referring to, but trent franks, who signed the letter, gomer, he's crazy. it's not, it's easy because she is a little bit kind of a crack pot, i said it, to demonize her, but she's got some company. and i also think this works because the president has muslim family members, stepfamily members and this is a part of a code about this president, about houma, who's a wonderful, civil, american servant that really needs to be denounced, but is only possible because the mainstream of the party thinks

it's fine to demonize our president has un-american. >> i still think michele is a special case. we had her on this show, probably where she really made her bones politically. she said we have to have an investigation by the u.s. government into the members of congress who are un-american and it's an incredible. she runs in a strange part of the world. the romney campaign, back to the candidate here. to make the president sound anti business. take a look at this ad then we'll watch the real thing it was taken from. >> if you've been successful, you didn't get that on your own. you didn't get there on your own. i'm always struck by people who think wow, it must be because i was just so smart. there are a lot of smart people out there. it must be because i worked harder than everybody else. let me tell you something. if you got business, you didn't build that.

somebody else made that happen. >> let's look at the actual statement here. the president's statement. >> if you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. there was a great teacher somewhere in your life. somebody helped to create this unbelievable american system that we have that allowed you to thrive. somebody invested in road and bridges. if you got a business, you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. >> john feehery, the way i heard that, he's talking about the bridges and roads. you didn't build that. he didn't say you didn't build your own business. he said that. and then the next season, someone else made that happen. that, not your business. the reference is clear and that commercial makes it look like he's saying oh, you didn't build your business. somebody else did. he's talking about the roads and infrastructure without which you can't make a business work. that's all he's saying. your thoughts.

>> my thoughts are that the president made a lot of those comments quoted in the ad, but it's not about the ads, chris. >> is the ad accurate? >> yeah, ad is accurate enough. >> accurate enough? >> far more accurate than most -- >> oh, come on. this is pathetic. this is flakry. you can't take a lie detector test. >> could i make this one point? >> no, not if you're going to make that point again. that's distortion. >> the point is this, chris. the ads don't matter. the economy is what hatters and the president has done nothing for the economy and you know that. >> john says it's not about the dishonesty of the romney campaign. >> it's about the economy, which the stimulus did bring back from the brink. you cannot say that this president has done nothing for the economy, john. that's just not true. and there is a fundamental point in the ad and in the president's speech that we need to debate going up to november and that is

the democratic vision that we had help getting into the middle class. my family did. chris' family did. we built roads, educated people. had a commitment to public universities. government created the middle class and now, republicans are acting like if you got there, you did it all by yourself. that's just not true. >> joan, i'm from chicago. the the government did just as much to take away from hard working middle class families as it did to help build roads. >> all i can tell you is i wouldn't have gone to college if i didn't get government loans. i got a full fellowship as well. if these acts didn't go through, i wouldn't be here, so i know that part. but i did work, too. >> we all worked. >> thank you. i know you know when you're wrong, your voice gets real high. coming up, president obama says that's just what mitt romney plans to do with

medicare. the president took the medicare issue to where it matters most politically, the state of florida. also, running against romney. we're going to talk to the woman who ran against governor of massachusetts. what's it like and what did she learn? plus, jeff daniels joins us live tonight in our news room. the real thing this time and the oddest of odd couples. newt and nooky. they're face to face the other day. you want to talk about animals again. here it is. >> i'm not -- newt, snooki, snooki, newt. >> what up. >> more to that in the "sideshow." n ] i hit a wall. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn

their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. let's hear it for game change. the hbo movie about the election has been nominated for 12 emmy awards. among the nominees, julian moore for her portrayal of sarah

palin. the great woody haralson, who played steve schmidt. ed harris, senator john mccain, they all deserve it. the movie was based on the best-selling book by two "hardball" regulars. congratulations to all. especially the creators of that great story. we'll be right back. jim twitchel is this true? yes it's true. how is this possible? proper tire inflation, by using proper grades of oil, your car runs more efficiently, saves gas. you could be doing this right now? yes i could, mike. i'm slowing you down? yes you are. my bad. the works fuel saver package. just $29.95 or less after rebate. only at your ford dealer. so, to sum up, you take care of that, you take care of these, you save a bunch of this. that works.

what did you do to my mama? >> making a wish, what the hell do you think i'm doing? >> look! >> throwing mama from the train. that famous scene from the movie may well be the movie equivalent of what life as a senior would be like in a romney presidency. the ryan budget plan, which romney supports, would decimate medicare.

a point driven home with some exaggeration by this famous ad. let's listen to this. ♪ >> strong images there, wouldn't you say? well, today in florida, president obama opened a new front in his fight against romney making sure voters know romney would end medicare. basically, that he'd throw mama from the train. this is serious business. romney ea romney's plan is the ryan plan, it gets rid of medicare and replaces it with a voucher program. >> he plans to roll back health

care reform, forcing more than 200,000 floridans to pay more for their prescription drugs. he plans to turn medicare into a voucher program, so that voucher isn't worth enough to buy the health insurance that's on the market, you're out of luck. you're on your own. one independent nonpartisan study found that seniors would have to pay nearly $6400 more for medicare than they do today. >> former white house press secretary to bill clinton and contributing editor to "vanity fair," eugene robinson, by the way, eugene, if i got a pulitzer, i'd never stop saying it. let's get through the analysis here. it seems fair. it's tough, the advertising,

over the top. but it's fair in this sense. romney has bought into the ryan plan. ryan gets lots of kudos for guts, but his plan does do what the president says it would do, right? >> yeah, it does. it would turn medicare into a voucher program. it is fair to say in my view, that it would end medicare as we know it. it would create something else that would be called medicare, but it wouldn't be the program we know. this is pretty much a fundamental question, i think. whether you make medicare into a voucher program or you keep it as an entitlement and i believe the polls show that most people want to keep it the way it is. they don't want it to be -- >> they love it. you and i know people on medicine tear, our parents, aunts and uncles and older brothers, they love it. because for the first time in their life, they get something for the all the work they did. everybody says cut the budget, cut spending. it's a good idea. we have a big deficit.

how about just cutting the deficit through different taxation policies. the minute you get to the reality of these, you like the ryan cuts, like him cutting things? here's what he's cutting. medicare. go ahead and explain it. defend it. i think that's the problem romney's going to have. >> we have a deficit, a debt. these have become problematic and then you get into the details of who's are you going to protect in order to do something about that. are you going to go after the most vulnerable? it cuts things like education and other important spending that helps the most vulnerable or are you going to provide tax cuts for the rich or preserve some of those programs in order to move towards a society where everybody has an equal shot. they're going to say that oh, the president's trying to scare people, but this isn't just an important issue. it's central to the philosophical differences, divide, that separates barack

obama and mitt romney. so you're going to hear a lot about it and on top of that, the research shows is pretty effective with seniors. >> again, gene, it's good to talk the fact you're going to be a different kind of president than obama, then explain what it means. you're not just a relief pitcher. you're coming in with a different approach. it seems he's going to cut taxes further for corporations. keep bush tax cuts and make them permane permanent. he has to come up with some on the other side or increase the deficits. looks like these are the cuts. this is what's going to pay for the extension of the bush tax cuts and corporate tax cuts. >> absolutely. mitt romney has not spelled out precisely what he would cut. when he talks about reforming the tax code, he hasn't spelled out what loopholes he would close. you want it to start taxing

health benefits. do you want to end the mortgage interest deduction. those are big things to do with the tax code that could bring him more money. so you got to be specific and i agree that you can't run all the way to the white house by saying i'm going to do it right without spelling out how you're going to do it. >> let's take a look -- >> just going to add it's important to note that the ryan budget doesn't balance the budget in the future. it adds hundreds of billions of dollars in additional debt. >> these are really tricky is why i keep saying you can't predict this election. "the new york times" and cbs news poll, fox news and national public radio even, show romney with a margin of error rate, 47-46 for romney. according to fox poll, 47-45, obama. what do you make of these, gene, when you put them together?

i see nothing but within the margin of error. >> if you take the run of the last few months worth of polls, it's either a margin of error race or obama is ahead. that's what the polls tent to say. i think that's probably right and it could be that way all the way to election day. or something events might cause it to break one way or the other. you'd have to say it's a close race. >> so what happens if we don't have a war with iran or israel doesn't, europe doesn't come apart and the unemployment rate stays about where it is an the growth rate stays about where it is, are we looking at election night like this, which is basically within the margin of error, another hell to pay 2000. that's what i'm looking at, where either guy wins so narrowly, we'll be screeching

for the rest of our lives about the pennsylvania voting i.d. requirement. suppose the election turns on one state like it did in ohio in 2004 and it's because of some new voter i.d. law that made it impossible for older people to get to the polls? what are we at then? >> it's entirely possible and also impossible that it will be some intervening event, like war with iran or something. sometimes, there's a cumulative drip, drip, drip. one of the things people were saying about the polls, that the obama attacks on bain weren't changing the race. it's really too soon to say what the cumulative effects of the arguments, not just specifics of bain, but what does it say about romn romney's priorities and character. in 2004, the bush people or their agents who weren't working for the bush people, started the swift-boat attacks in may and john kerry led during the entire

run of those ads. may through august. you didn't start to see his favorables kind of shrink until after that, but the cumulative damage in these ads was clear. you don't know what the cumulative effect of the attacks on romney or if the economy remains bad, if people just decide they've had it, i don't think that's going to happen. >> excuse me, we got to go. dee dee, do you believe they're not accusing the democrats of swift-boating? they're using the word. being nixonian. thank you. up next, in this corner, the former speaker of the house. newt and snooki. that can only mean one thing. the "sideshow" about to come and this is "hardball," the place for felix. [ male announcer imagine facing the day

with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes.

tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbaa.lt dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. like in a special ops mission? you'd spot movement, gather intelligence with minimal collateral damage. but rather than neutralizing enemies in their sleep, you'd be targeting stocks to trade.

well, that's what trade architect's heat maps do. they make you a trading assassin. trade architect. td ameritrade's empowering web-based trading platform. trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up to $600 when you open an account. hey. hey eddie. i brought your stuff. you don't have to do this. yes i do. i want you to keep this. it'd be weird. take care. you too. [ sighs ] so how did it go? he's upset. [ male announcer ] spend less time at gas stations. with best in class fuel economy. it's our most innovative altima ever. ♪

bush made some news yesterday in his interview when he praised mitt romney. and i was shocked by how quickly they made his romney endorsement into a campaign ad. this was fast. take a look. >> yeah, i'm interested in politics. i'm you know, a supporter of mitt romney. i hope he does well. >> i'm barack obama and i approve this message. >> well, former president bush's first romney endorsement came back in may as a set of elevator doors were closing on him, the former president. he said to a reporter, i'm for mitt romney. newt, meet snooki. no joke. that's what happened in last night's "tonight show." the former speaker of the house wound up on the couch next to the former star of jersey shore. a lot of ground was covered. >> newt, snooki, snooki, newt. >> what up.

>> congratulations on having two "new york times" best sellers. >> thank you, i'm trying to be like you. >> how about -- a lot of strippers? >> yes. i feel like the guy should have strippers. you're going to be married to the same girl your whole life, so enjoy it. did you have strippers? >> no. >> do you drink, newt? >> sometimes. >> good for you. >> when's the last time you just got wasted? >> thinking about coming on this show. >> thinking about -- >> newt tweeted before the interview he hoped snooki liked zoos and animals. he loves that stuff and we've heard this question more than a few times about some of mitt romney's potential running mates. are they just too dull? tim pawlenty went on a new level, went to a new level to show some flash in a fox interview just yesterday.

>> you're considered at least by the romneys we are told, this could be wrong, safe, reliable, steady as she goes. nothing too flashy. dare i say dull? >> now, if you goad me into it, i'll show you my tats. i'm not as flashy as some, but compared to some others, i think i'm right in there. >> he's going to show us his tats. you have to talk like this. any way, i think it's going to be pawlenty. that's my pick. he's going to be the running mate. finally, will farrell and zack galifianakis will be joining us. last night, they announced the cubs lineup at wrigley field. >> batting third and playing first base, ironically, he's not italian. number 44, anthony rizzo. >> batting sixth and playing

catcher, in his spare time, he's an accountant at a sty foam cooler company -- >> he leads the league with 450 strikeouts, number 49, jeff -- >> coming up here soon, they were in the second city right then. up next, you've seen him on "the ne newsroom." in a moment, he'll be here to talk about his show. jeff daniels joins us in a minute. er driven. i bought the car because of its efficiency. i bought the car because i could eliminate gas from my budget. i don't spend money on gasoline. it's been 4,000 miles since my last trip to the gas station. it's pretty great.

i get a bunch of kids waving at me... giving me the thumbs up. it's always a gratifying experience. it makes me feel good about my car. i absolutely love my chevy volt. ♪ trouble with a car insurance claim.

[ voice of dennis ] switch to allstate. their claim service is so good, now it's guaranteed. [ normal voice ] so i can trust 'em. unlike randy. are you in good hands?

with the fidelity stock screener, you can try strategies from independent experts and see what criteria they use. such as a 5% yield on dividend-paying stocks. then you can customize the strategies and narrow down to exactly those stocks you want to follow. i'm mark allen of fidelity investments. the expert strategies feature is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account. i'm amanda drury.

the dow gains 34 points. s&p up by three and nasdaq adding 23 points. after the closing bell, google reported earnings and beat estimates, but revenue was light. meanwhile, microsoft is out with its first quarterly loss as a public company. on the economic front, weekly jobless claims rose by 34,000 last week and existing home sales were weak in june, but sale prices were still up over a year ago. that is it from cnbc first in business worldwide. now, it's back over to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." jeff daniels, the star of aaron sorkin's n show "the newsroom," he plays an anchor who games from a disengaged news reader to someone who inserts

himself forcefully into the middle of a debate. >> the health care law hasn't taken effect yet. maybe the freedoms you have before president obama was sworn in that you don't have to do. what state, what city, what county in this country is in danger of falling under sharia law? teen pregnancy rose over that period. largest demographic of americans living in poverty are children. abolishing the minimum wage would create jobs. the public school system has failed you, as did three of your college professor. it's going to come down to who shows up. >> jeff daniels, thank you for joining us. i just have to ask, why do i like this guy so much? why do i love him? >> i don't know. he's just, you know what, chris? he's sick and tired of the same old same old. he's sick and tired of being marketed and spun to and he's just going you know what, we're going to cut through it all and

bore in on the truth and that's what he's going for. >> you start off like a jerry stringer, i like jerry springer personally, but they engage in a dog fight, he enjoys it. he's not interested in the truth or news except making a buck. >> exactly. he loves the money, the ratings. he loves being loved. his friends are people on the other side of that lens and he's very comfortable there. he's got a great living, a great salary, but he's not being the journalist he could be and at a time when he could be doing something to save the country to save his own newscast and career, he gets pushed by mckenzie mchale into doing just that. >> what's really real about it, we all work together all day. is that it's like that. you get this sense that what gets on the air is only the tip of the iceberg, that what's gone on all day, you have to work together, there's a little

conflict there sometimes. working together with another ego, you and the ep, then with all the other producers doing their thing, the conflicts, the arguments, the great synergy is going all day. that would be a great show and you're putting it on. >> it's interesting for me having done the whole first season now. you guys know, whether it's you guys or on fox or cnn. >> it does matter. >> it does matter, but you guys know that if you cover a certain subject in a certain way, your ratings are going to spike up. if you back off, your ratings are going to go down. when we did a screening in new york recently that you attended, there were a lot of journalist, a lot of producers, guys who have been in the field for decades and they said, i hope to god that you guys are dealing with those of us who fight the fight every day to try to hang

on to the ideals of journalism and you see it. it's not like we're out trying to whitewash all of cable news. we're trying to shine a light on the people really trying to tell the truth and get out the truth every day. >> that's our fight every day to get out the truth because you don't have a corrections page. here's an example of aaron sorkin's brilliant dialogue. a scene from next week's episode. >> make you cry, they don't themselves experience emotion. >> the way you experience emotion when you watch rudy. >> jersey scene? >> yes. >> everybody cries at the jersey scene. jim? >> haven't saw it. >> what were you doing when everyone else was living their lives? >> my homework. >> my homework. i didn't believe i'd be the only one to say this. >> i shouldn't have started this. >> ncaa rules only allow a certain amount of players to be in and the list goes up. >> four years of futility.

first, he's got to make the grade to get in. >> then the practice squad. >> getting creamed by guys twice his size, but doesn't care. he just wants to be on the list to dress for a game. >> who's that really good looking young guy playing martin? >> some kid we hired off the the street. >> my son. i love that picture. he's doing great. i'm going to ask you, besides doing a good acti ining job and love emily mortimer and the rest of your crew. what do you think you can get done if you run four or five years like "west wing"? what would change? >> maybe a more engaged, i don't know about your business, but i do know that maybe the people watching you and others will get more engaged. you use the word disengaged for will mcavoy. i think the country's disengaged. for a lot of reasons. we have the attention span of a gnat and we're instantly gratified and can't seem to

focus. this is an election year. there are too many things and programs like this and others are dealing with that and yet, you talk to people and you feel like sometimes they're not paying attention. drives people from 20 somethings on up. to paying attention more. to being engaged more to being more informed, then i think we've done a good thing. >> you know what i love about this show, some don't like it, those that do, that's more of the people. they all say i can't wait until next week. >> we love the haters, the lovers. >> the buzz is big. thank you very much. remember, sunday nights on hbo. up next, running against romney. lost to mitt romney ten years ago. she learned a lot and is going to share with us in a minutes the stuff that might help president obama right now. i'm barack oba ma and i approve this message. [romney singing]: oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain,

for purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plain, america, america, god shed his grace on thee, and crowned thy good, with brotherhood... [ engine revving ] ♪ hey, hey, hey ♪ [ tires screech ] [ male announcer ] with fuel economy that's best in class and better acceleration than camry and accord, you'll wish you had the road to yourself. [ tires screech ] it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ what ?

customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. yet another indication of how close this presidential election night might be. let's check the "hardball" scoreboard. a quinnipiac poll shows that mitt romney has caught president obama in virginia. the two are tied 44-44 in that incredibly close state. in march, the president led romney by eight in the state. now, it's even. we're going to be right back. [ male announcer ] hey, isn't that the girl

who tore out your still beating heart? [ bowling pins ] ok, how's this gonna play? mi amore. [ chicken clucking ] [ male announcer ] bit needy, g. ok don't sweat it. just do your thing. hey! hey! [ male announcer ] definitely a little bit epic. stride. hey! hey! ♪ atmix of energies.ve the world needs a broader that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go.

♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what's the point of an epa estimated 42 miles per gallon if the miles aren't interesting? the lexus ct hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment.

let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. running for recollection against mitt romney is no easy feat and the techniques he's employing against president obama are one he's honed in past elections. a former state treasurer of that state was romney's opponent in 2002 race for governor. lost by five points after winning a four-way democratic primary. she joins us now. i want to put this to you. take a couple of minutes. you're sitting at dinner with president obama. he invites you upstairs to the white house. he says, i need some time with you. tell me what i need to know when i face this guy in a debate. what do you say? >> i think the most important thing is to really focus on his

values because i think that for it's almost 20 some odd years now that romney has been running for higher office and i think it's really the values that are lacking there and i think that's what they're trying to do. i think that's what this whole thing about bain is. it's what i tried to do in 2002. is really talk about values. theres cares about middle class people, who cares about investing in the infrastructure and the educational system so all people have a chance to do well. that's what i'd tell him. >> how does the president make it rel vanlt he was a swashbuckling ruthless business guy who made a huge amount of money because he pushed the envelope, maybe cost people their jobs. how does that affect the average person right now? i'm asking you how to tell the president what to do in this debate. how is it relevant he may have been an s.o.b.? >> that's your characterization. the point i tried to make ten

years ago is when you have someone focused on profits rather than the stories of people. you have to empathy. i think that was one of the things we've seen in the beginning of the campaign. i think there is a lack of empathy on mitt romney's part. the story about the race cars and he knows these people when he's trying to seem like a regular guy, i think that he does lack empathy. and that lack of empathy leads not only into his business practices but more importantly for the lack of empathy will lead into how he invests in the future for the majority of the people in this country. >> let's now talk about one sof the biggest released right now. how he played in costing americans jobs by sending those jobs overseas. the discussion we're having now is about bain. whether he oversaw the company's migration towards outsourcing. this is critical on the campaign right now. you hit him with that line of attack in 2002, ten years ago in

the massachusetts governor's debate. let's watch you in action against mitt on bain capital and outsourcing. >> the fact is you were still signing documents as ceo of the company while you were away. as a matter of fact, in the summer of 2001 when you were leaving the olympics, you actually made a statement in the paper that in 2001 you were relinquishing control of your position within bain. apparently you hadn't relinquished beforehand. >> did that help you in the campaign? did it mean much to voters? >> i didn't nail him because he basically said i was not telling the truth. and at that point in time, we were getting out 3-1 in those final weeks and months of the campaign. trying to make that point wasn't as easy. and i also think it was more difficult for us because people had heard some of this before. i think they kind of understood it. ted kennedy had raised some of the same issues in the 1994

election. it worked for ted kennedy, but i think people were maybe giving him a pass or what. i don't really know. i don't think it was at effective. but i think now it's more effective for a national audience of people who really haven't seen that sort of set of values or that hypocrisy, if you will. >> he seems to enjoy the formality of a debate, mitt. he's a formal guy. it seems to be my advice -- what do you think of telling the president you've got to loosen this up a bit? if you get formal like him, very stiff like he does, he wins on that platform. >> the thing i've noticed and i think -- again, during my campaign and other places, i think he has a tough time when he's unscripted. the times where he's made most of his mace takes is going off message. i think the more president obama can actually have a conversation and get him to go off script and to engage him on a personal level, i think that will perhaps benefit the president. >> i'm with you completely.

so much. i completely agree. if this is a battle of rehearsed lines, romney could win this thing. he's pretty good. he could memorize as well as anybody can. >> i think obama is going to have to show his heart rather than romney's heart. that core values and everyone empathy. and bain. >> thank you very much, shannon o'brien of massachusetts. when we return, let me finish about newsroom. and how it connected with me. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. ♪ what the... what the... what the... ♪ are you seein' this? ♪ ♪ uh-huh... uh-huh... uh-huh... ♪ ♪ it kinda makes me miss the days when we ♪ ♪ used to rock the microphone ♪ back when our credit score couldn't get us a micro-loan ♪ ♪ so light it up! ♪ even better than we did before ♪ ♪ yeah prep yourself america we're back for more ♪ ♪ our look is slacker chic and our sound is hardcore ♪ ♪ and we're here to drop a rhyme about free-credit-score ♪ ♪ i'm singing free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ dot-com

narrator: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com. according to ford, the works fuel saver package could literally pay for itself. jim twitchel is this true? yes it's true. how is this possible? proper tire inflation, by using proper grades of oil, your car runs more efficiently, saves gas.

you could be doing this right now? yes i could, mike. i'm slowing you down? yes you are. my bad. the works fuel saver package. just $29.95 or less after rebate. only at your ford dealer. so, to sum up, you take care of that, you take care of these, you save a bunch of this. that works. trouble with a car insurance claim. [ voice of dennis ] switch to allstate. their claim service is so good, now it's guaranteed. [ normal voice ] so i can trust 'em. unlike randy. are you in good hands?

[ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering.

let me finish tonight with this. "the newsroom" that's gotten all the buzz these days started with a talk show host like me denying this is the greatest country in the world. he had all kinds of quotes about health care and facts. here's what i think. i think everything from sorkin has created, you find a common string. it's people trying to improve on what they've inherited. they're trying to break through to something better, smarter, truer. something that's not just state of the art but deserves to be. every day on this show we try to come up with what happened today

and what's -- determined never to do this week what we could have done last week. never to look like any other show. and that includes the shows you're loyal to right here on this new york. this is why people are watching the newsroom on hbo. because they don't know where it's going. what they're captivated with is the determination to take us somewhere new and better. it's what happens here every day. the give and take between executive producer and host. the effort ofr all producers to do something really good. all this day-long struggle and clash of views to get something on that informs, exposes, and ignites. and in the words of who started this show sharpens the issue. let's walk away and tell others what the arguments are all about. what this country of ours as least the interesting attentive people. i salute aaron sorkin saying this country can work harder at what they want toob. to being as a